Water Infrastructure

In 2015 we lost 29% of the water the City pumped and treated through leaks in our pipes. In 2016 we lost 21% of our water. In total, 9% of the City’s water pipes are obsolete and an additional 19% are nearing failure. In 2016 we had 425 leaks in our water system, which was a 30% increase in leaks from 2015. The leak repairs cost the City in a number of ways, but most notably in staff time and water cost. In 2016 City staff spent nearly 4000 hours repairing leaks, which is equivalent to nearly $156,000.

In addition to staff time, there is tremendous value to the water lost. In 2015 the losses totaled more than $800,000 in retail value, please see figure 2, below:

Investing in infrastructure, and restoring our water system to health, must remain a primary priority in future budgets. To this end, the adopted 2017-2018 budget calls for $835,000 in repairs to water pipes. This is more than three (3) times the amount spent in the 2016-2017 budget ($260,000), and more than the previous two budgets combined.

In addition to the financial investment we will be changing our staffing model in water by cross-training our employees. This will improve the maintenance of our assets while simultaneously reducing our operating costs. We went far too long without maintaining our infrastructure properly, and because of this, it will be several years before we have a water system that operates in an efficient and cost effective manner.